The Forgotten One
by Kal
Summary: A short story about Jerome Angelo. Didn't heard about him before? He was at the beginning of the game. Maybe it's because everyone forgot about him...


### The Forgotten One

By Kal.  
  
  
I never intended to be a hero.   
  
At Fort Condor, I was just one of many people; but I wanted to do more than just watch over the condor´s nest from the attacks of the Shinra. They had to be stopped, or else they would kill the Planet. I wanted to do something, but I didn´t know what.   
  
Until one day. The Shinra were about to attack us, and we didn´t had enough manpower or money to fend them off. Then they appeared.   
  
The spiky-haired man called Cloud helped us giving us the money we needed, and fighting alongside us. Before he parted, I asked him: "Why?"   
  
"You needed help against the Shinra. We fight against them to protect the Planet from them...and Sephiroth."   
  
"Sephiroth!?"   
  
He told me everything they knew so far. How the Shinra had killed an entire village just to get to them. That they wanted to get to the Promised Land to extract all the Mako they could from it. And about Sephiroth´s return and that he also was looking for the Promised Land.   
  
"So, you´re in need of all the help you can get, huh?"   
  
"Yes. Five people it´s not enough to battle against the Shinra."   
  
"Make that six people, because I´m joining you."   
  
"What!?"   
  
"You heard me. The Shinra need to be stopped. And also Sephiroth. I couldn´t just stay here and wait without doing nothing. You need my help and I will help you." I said.   
  
Cloud thought about it for a moment. Then he smiled and shook my hand.   
  
"Let´s meet the rest of the gang. What´s your name?"   
  
"My name? You can call me Jerome."   
  
  
And then I joined Avalanche, and began the greatest adventure of all history. As we were in the Shinra boat, dressed in the uniforms we had stolen, I watched the sunset and thought about my father. He made me promise that I would do something worthy with my life. That´s why I was at Fort Condor, trying to save an endangered species. But I think this was more along the lines of what my father had planned for me. That´s why he trained me so hard to use the bow and arrows I had brought with me when I joined Cloud and the other´s.   
  
"Everyone, this is Jerome. He will accompany us from here."   
  
"Hello Jerome" said a girl in a pink dress. Her green emerald eyes had a strange glow that reminded me of Mako. "My name´s Aeris. Nice to meet you!"   
  
"Wassup? Mah name´s Barret" said a large black man with a gun on his right arm. I decided to not ask him about it.   
  
"Hi. I´m Tifa." said a woman with long chocolate-like hair. She looked very strong, and the fighting gloves she used made me realize I better not try anything on her.   
  
"Greetings. You can call me Red XIII." said the large lion that was with them. After a moment of shock, I greeted him back.   
  
  
I think everyone had their doubts about me. I bet they thought I would abandon them after something scared me enough. But they quickly abandoned that idea after our first encounter with Sephiroth. I thought he was dead, but he was alive enough to throw a monster at us. After that battle I´m sure no one thought I would abandon them. Even that ninja girl we found wandering in the forest told me that I had been "Cool".   
  
"Really, when that thing was about to smash me, you shoot at it and saved me. Thanks!"   
  
"We have to watch for each other in this team. Maybe someday you´ll return me the favor."   
  
"I hope so. By the way, my name´s Yuffie Kisaragi."   
  
"I´m Jerome Angelo."   
  
"So, how old are you? You don´t seem older than me."   
  
"I´m 18 years old. And I lived in Fort Condor for a while now, but I was born at Junon."   
  
"Heard it´s a big city. How is it like?"   
  
"It´s big and noisy. And dirty. I didn´t lived in the city, but in the town below it. All of their waste ended up in the beach near the town. My father always lamented about how beautiful it had been before the Shinra had built the city above us."   
  
"And how´s your father?"   
  
"He died three years ago. A fishing accident. When he died, he made me promise him I would do something worthy with my life. That´s why I´m here. And you?"   
  
"I´m here because... uhh... well, I heard of you guys adventures and thought I would find some rare Materia if I joined you."   
  
I frowned upon hearing this. She was lying about something.   
  
"Yuffie... that´s half the truth, isn´t it?"   
  
"... Who do you think you are, questioning me like that!? Just... just get away from me!"   
  
She ran away. I wouldn´t find the truth until later, and it wouldn´t be pretty.   
  
  
And we continued on, from Costa del Sol to Wutai, finding new allies such as Cait Sith, the fortune-teller cat (we learned alter he was controlled at distance by Reeve from the Shinra); Vincent, victim of Professor Hojo´s experiments; and Cid, the pilot who refused to let go of his dream of going into the outer space.   
  
"You still think this junk will fly?" I asked Cid while we were inside the rocket.   
  
"Junk!? JUNK!? This thing will take me someday to outer space!" he said, irritated.   
  
"But as you say, everyday it rusts more. And someday it will fall down. When that happens, what´re you gonna do?" I asked him.   
  
"Listen, kid. I know that this thing is not as perfect as it should be, but it´s the only way I have of reaching my dream of going into outer space. If I renounced to it, then I would be as good as dead."   
  
"So you will never give up?"   
  
"Never! Someday, you´ll see how I go into outer space. Heck, maybe you and your friends will come with me if I feel generous that day. So don´t ever say again this rocket is junk, or I´ll kick your ass so hard you´ll end up in the moon before I can get there in my rocket!" he finished clenching his left fist.   
  
I just smiled sympathetically. At that moment I thought it was impossible, but time would prove me wrong.   
  
  
And then tragedy struck us. I was with Cloud and Tifa when we saw Sephiroth stabbing Aeris in the altar at the City of the Ancients. We were all devastated, especially Cloud, who had feelings for her. I swore that the last thing Sephiroth would see would be me shooting an arrow at him.   
  
"Do not worry. Soon the girl will become part of the Planet´s energy. All that is left is to go North. The 'Promised Land' waits for me over the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the planet. As will this girl..."   
  
"...Shut up" Cloud said, covered in tears. I had been moving quietly, hoping Sephiroth wouldn´t notice me until it was late. I took one arrow out of the shaft and tensed the bow´s string with it.   
  
"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing." Cloud yelled at him. I concentrated on Sephiroth´s exposed chest. I wouldn´t fail.   
  
"Ha, ha, ha...... Stop acting as if you were sad. There´s no need to act as though you´re angry either." Sephiroth then raised in the air. Just another second...   
  
"Because, Cloud. You are..."   
  
He couldn´t finish. The arrow flied through the air, directly to his chest. He looked surprised. Then his green eyes looked at me, angered.   
  
"You dare to do this to me!" He growled.   
  
"You deserve that and more!" I yelled.   
  
"You´ll pay for this." He said as he escaped, flying away.   
  
  
And from there on, everything went crazy. We climbed Gaea´s Cliff, and learned Cloud was not who we thought he was. Later we found him turned into a vegetable in a hospital at Mideel. Tifa stayed behind to take care of him, while we continued to battle the Shinra and stop the Meteor Sephiroth had summoned. Thank God that Cloud recovered, and told us the truth, how he couldn´t stand being a nobody and created a fantasy so strong even he believed it.   
  
Before I left the room I went next to Cloud and put my hand in his shoulder.   
  
"So, I deceived you all..." he began.   
  
"Cloud, it´s not your fault. You just wanted to be someone. That´s what most people wish: to be someone, to not be forgotten. My dad told me once that being forgotten is worse than death itself. In part, that´s why I joined you all. To do something that helped everyone, and to be remembered for it. That´s what I promised my father."   
  
"But you never lied about your motives or yourself."   
  
"It´s not like you didn´t have a good reason. You didn´t want Tifa to see you as a loser. I also wouldn´t want to appear as a loser to someone I love." I said.   
  
"What? No, me and Tifa are just friends, really."   
  
"She stayed with you at Mideel. And I´m pretty sure she didn´t do it just because of friendship." I smiled.   
  
"So, what matters now? She now knows I lied to her, to everyone. She must hate me now."   
  
"Of course not! And what if you weren´t a big hero then? Now you are. That´s what matters."   
  
I walked to get out of the meeting room, when I heard Cloud´s voice.   
  
"Jerome... Thanks. I don´t know what would we do if you weren´t around."   
  
"Don´t worry. I plan to stick with you to the end."   
  
  
After that, it seemed as if everything had been planned by something or someone. Cid took his rocket to the space; Yuffie finally confronted her father; Vincent killed Hojo and ended his evil. Red said his final farewell to Bugenhagen. And then we were ready to confront Sephiroth one last time.   
  
The battle was hard, and for moments I thought we wouldn´t made it. But it all ended when one of my arrows pierced Sephiroth´s chest. He couldn´t believe that me, the one he paid less attention to, was the one who had ended his pretensions to become a god.   
  
After that, we were ready to go back to the Highwind, when Cloud fell to the ground and clutched his head between his hands. It seemed as if Sephiroth wasn´t dead yet. I also felt a buzz in my head and my spirit was pulled along with hat of Cloud to one final confrontation with Sephiroth.   
  
Cloud, because he was the one who always had battled against his plans; and me, for ending his life and his pretensions as a god.   
  
But he didn´t count on our anger. As Cloud was striking blow after blow with his sword at him, I shot one single golden arrow charged with all my fury and strength. It trespassed him cleanly as Cloud jumped and delivered the final blow. But he would have the last laugh.   
  
"I... hate you... both... You... will... pay... for this... Especially... you..." He said as he pointed at me. An energy blast came out him, trespassed me and then I woke up next to Cloud. His spirit was still away, and the entire place was crumbling. He came back in time to save Tifa and himself from a certain death. With the few strength that I had left, I boarded the Highwind, and dismayed in the Chocobo´s pen.   
  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Cid´s voice woke me up harshly.   
  
"Cid! It´s everyone ok?" I asked.   
  
Then Cloud and Red appeared from behind Cid.   
  
"Red! Cloud! You´re all right!"   
  
"Who are you? And how do you know our names?" Red asked me, puzzled.   
  
"C´mon, guys. It´s me, Jerome!"   
  
"Jerome?" Cloud said as he shot a glance at Cid. Cid shrugged and lit another cigarette.   
  
"Yes. Did we defeat Sephiroth? And the meteor?"   
  
"Yes. We did it. But I don´t remember you being there." Red said.   
  
"What!? I was there with you."   
  
"I... I try to remember... It´s like a distant dream." Cloud said.   
  
"Me too... But it´s getting harder to remember with each second..."   
  
It struck me. This was Sephiroth´s revenge. For someone who had the power to create illusions, to made someone believe he wasn´t who he thought, it should be a breeze to make people forgot about something... or someone.   
  
"Well, you´re invited to stay here as long as you want. We´ll reach Kalm in two hours." Cloud then looked at me once more, trying to remember, without success.   
  
I went to the bridge of the ship. I talked with Tifa, Vincent, Barret... I even hoped that, given Cait was controlled at distance, Reeve would remember me.   
  
Everyone had forgotten. And each time I tried to tell them something that could help me to prove them I had been with them all along, my memory clouded. Sephiroth obviously made me forget too about everyone.   
  
When we reached Kalm, I bid everyone farewell. They obviously seemed like they cared about me leaving them, but they couldn´t say why. I left to Fort Condor, the only home I had.   
  
But even there no one remembered me. And since the condor´s egg had hatched long ago, there was no reason for me to stay there. So, I went to Junon. I born and grew up there. Sure they would remember me.   
  
But even there, no one recognized me. Not the old lady who lived in the house next to mine and always had a candy and some word of advice every time I visited her; or the old fisherman who gave me my first job cleaning the fishes he used to catch. To them, I was a newcomer who seemed to know things he shouldn´t.   
  
So, here I am now, at my home at Junon, writing these memories, hoping that one day my friends and everyone who knew me remember who I am and what we did together.   
  
But I don´t think I´ll wait long. There have been rumors about my old friends lately. It seems that this Planet needs our help again. It´s just a matter of time before they eventually come here again. And when they do, I´ll be ready.   
  
And again, the name of Jerome Angelo will mean something to everyone again.   
  
This time, I will not be forgotten.   
  
Not again.   
  
  
I was inspired to do this story for what I heard of Marvel Comics _ The Sentry_. What if there was a hero everyone forgot about? I just had to put this question in a FF7 context. I tried to do Jeorme as "FF-like" as I could. If you want to see more stories about him then tell me at kal1@ignmail.com.  
  



End file.
